UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT Volum

UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT Volume 3 Issue 6 Volume 3 Issue 6 UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT 18 1. How did you decide to start a business? The idea for Sayata Labs emerged when my partners and I identified a unique opportunity to bring our cybersecurity and data science expertise to bear for small and medium-sized businesses. We noticed that the cybersecurity industry had several structural problems, and after conducting thorough research, determined that the cyber insurance industry, in which actual performance can be measured, is perfectly positioned to tackle these challenges. Of course, we knew that addressing these issues would require a team with critical skillsets in cybersecurity, insurance, and data science. We assembled a very strong team with a proven track record of success in these fields and developed a solution which provides deep insights into cyber risks, at scale. 2. What are the biggest challenges you face as the founder of a startup? As a startup, we need to be extremely agile and quick. One of the biggest challenges we face is quickly growing our team to keep up with customer demand. The cyber insurance industry is rapidly expanding and that puts more pressure on us to meet that demand. Additionally, cyber risk is a sensitive topic, especially for the SMB market, and requires us to educate the market as to the nature and depth of the risks involved. This takes time, but the hackers aren’t waiting. 3. How are you tackling the awareness problem? What does your outreach to SMBs look like? We emphasize that small and medium-sized businesses are increasingly aware of the importance of cybersecurity and the potentially devastating consequences of getting it wrong. They’ve seen the effects of cyber attacks up close: 43% of all cyberattacks target SMBs. But complex threats require sophisticated solutions, and SMBs don’t usually have the time and proper toolset to deal with these threats effectively. With Sayata’s advanced technology, SMBs receive full visibility into their organizations’ level of risk. We designed our system to be intuitive, with a seamless user experience for customers even if they have limited technical knowledge of cybersecurity issues. 19 CISO MAG | June 2019 CISO MAG | June 2019

UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT Volume 3 Issue 6 Volume 3 Issue 6 UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT The system is created in a way that no special knowledge is required and the system is extremely simple and quick. Our focus is on what’s most important for SMB leaders: providing a clear, full view of an organization’s risk exposure, so we can enable them to address any issues or vulnerabilities facing their businesses. For those who want to delve further into the technical aspects, we provide deeper explanations and userfriendly recommendations. 20 4. What’s Sayata’s approach in assessing a company’s risk exposure? Sayata’s data science and cybersecurity experts understand the vulnerabilities, exploits, and potential attacks that cause cyber breaches. This, combined with our insights into factors that are predictive of actual cyber losses, enable us to pinpoint a company’s risk exposure with exceptional accuracy. A major challenge is that there is generally a tradeoff between the depth of a cyber assessment and the ease of using it. We created advanced technology to enable the use of deep analytics, but also made it simple, efficient, and understandable so it can be used at scale. Additionally, as the cyber threat landscape evolves, the solutions need to evolve as well. We are dynamic and check for a 21 CISO MAG | June 2019 CISO MAG | June 2019